Fading Out
by jaxie0304
Summary: "No 'buts' about it, Lance," Hunk interrupted. "Your life - Pidge's life - hell, all of our lives are more important than some simple mission" Or an excuse for a quick Langst fix featuring Klance and Shidge... Because I can, that's why. She/Her pronouns for pidge.


_A/N Helllo ~ So, I'm not much of a writer. I have to give most of the credit for this story to my sister kytheanxiousemerald who helped me write it. She helped my idea come to life.. I'm a mutlishipper but I love me some Klance so it's heavily implied that they have a relationship here. Shidge also makes a tiny appearance cause I couldn't help myself xD I hope you enjoy it! review and all the cool stuff!_

* * *

In every scenario in which he died, Lance never had thought up this one. It was different than he imagined. The pain had come and gone and he felt like... like he was floating. The only thing registering in his mind anymore was that there was still a fight going on around him. A fight he couldn't help win.

"Lance!"

Everything was fading in and out. It hurt to breathe and the sound of Pidge shouting his name seemed far away. He hoped she was alright. Last he'd seen, she'd nearly been shot with a blaster. He couldn't remember what happened after that.

"Lance! Please say something!"

Was that? Oh. Keith. His Keith. Lance saw them now, so close yet so far, their voices drowned out by the blood rushing in his ears and the ongoing battle. Both Keith and Pidge were kicking ass, protecting him from the onslaught of Galra soldiers as he lay helplessly on the floor. He could hear Hunk and Shiro and Allura shouting through his helmet. Lance tried focusing on their voices, but everything was becoming more and more fuzzy.

"Hold on bro, we'll be there soon! Just hold on!" Hunk was saying - over and over again like a mantra. Then Shiro's voice faded in from the background.

"We're coming back around with yellow, we'll be there soon!"

Lance heard Keith responding but everything started to fade out in a rush again. He was cold and numb and everything was losing color with each strained breath he let out.

"La-nce - look - me…" A green blur was above him. Pidge? When did she get so close? He felt her removing his helmet and blearily saw her mouth moving but he couldn't hear what she was saying. Her voice seemed so far away, yet she was so close; right above him as she cradled his head in her lap. She was tapping his cheeks, trying to get him to focus on her. He didn't understand. Wasn't she supposed to be fighting the Galra soldiers? Was she hurt? What happened to Keith? He wanted to see Keith.

"Keith…"

Pidge provided a shaky grin, "He's fine."

Lance shook his head.

"Pidge… Care-careful… Galra…"

"We finished the rest of them off, we're okay. Keith's making sure there are no more soldiers wandering nearby," she began running fingers through his hair. "Everything is going to be okay."

Lance gave a weak nod but the last bit of energy he had to speak went out the window after a quick coughing fit. Blood soon coated his lips and his chest felt tighter than before.

"Ba-abe!"

Keith. That was Keith. Keith was finally here, and that was good. Because as much as he loved Pidge, Keith felt safe. Lance wanted to make fun of the pet name like he usually did. He wanted to laugh. But everything had gone dark already and he could hardly breathe.

"I'm here, babe. Lance stay awake, I'm here. Pidge too. And we're not letting you go. I'm not gonna let you go."

Lance gripped his hand but everything else - Pidge's fingers in his hair, their voices - was lost to him now. He let himself float.

* * *

"Lance..! LANCE!" Keith shouted. He eyed the gaping wound on Lance's chest before squeezing his hand again. Pidge was beside him, crying and begging Hunk and Shiro to hurry up through the comms. Lance wasn't responding to anything anymore and his breathing was close to non-existent. Keith was quickly falling apart.

 _Not Lance. Not like this. Not Lance. Please, not Lance_.

He didn't even notice when Shiro finally arrived.

The black Paladin ran over to them. "Hunk is waiting in Yellow. Come on, we have to get out of here - Keith, help me carry him."

It was a blur after that, for all of them. Getting to the yellow lion, arriving back at the castle, and rushing Lance into a pod. It was only much later, when Coran let out a weary but relieved sigh and declared Lance would make it, that everyone began moving normally. Time went back to its normal pace and they felt like they could breathe again.

Keith didn't leave the infirmary, however, and opted to sit diligently in front of Lance's pod. Hunk had stayed with him for a while, still distraught and anxious that Lance might not actually be alright. Eventually Coran took him away to the kitchen, to get help cooking a dinner no one would have the appetite for. Hunk knew it was an excuse to get their mind off things, and as much as he didn't want to leave Lance, he appreciated Coran's efforts and went with him knowing he needed to calm down.

Allura, meanwhile, was taking her time bandaging a small gash on Pidge's arm. Shiro stood idly by.

"Are you sure you don't want to go into a pod?"

"I told you I was fine, Shiro. Barely a scrape. I'm more worried about Lance," Pidge said, before addressing the princess who had finally finished patching her up. "Thanks for your help, Allura."

"Certainly, Pidge. Try getting some rest, alright?"

Then the princess was gone and Shiro stepped over to help Pidge down from where she was perched on the table.

"I'm fine, Shiro."

"You look exhausted. You should take Allura's advice and get some sleep."

"You look worse than I do. I told you, I'm okay."

Pidge started to turn away but was stopped by Shiro's metal hand grabbing onto her real one. She took a deep breath before practically falling into the black paladin's arms. He held her tightly.

"I'm sorry. We should have been more careful. Lance is hurt because of me and -"

"All that matters is that all three of you made it out alive. You're here. Safe for now. That's all that matters… So please…"

"Alright, but if I rest, so do you." Pidge stated firmly. Shiro couldn't argue with that so he led them to the common room where they both practically fell onto the Altean equivalent of a sofa. Pidge snuggled in against his side and passed out almost instantly. With a fond smile, Shiro leant down and kissed her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Katie." He whispered, before leaning back and shutting his eyes.

* * *

It was two days later when Lance awoke from the cryopod. He was groggy and sore, but alive and otherwise uninjured. Hunk was the first to wrap him up in a large hug, followed by Pidge and Shiro. Allura and Coran stood nearby, watching the scene happily.

"I'm sorry for messing up the mission... " He mumbled. Pidge stopped hugging him long enough to slap his arm.

"What are you talking about? You saved my life!"

"Yeah, but -"

"No 'buts' about it, Lance," Hunk interrupted. "Your life - Pidge's life - hell, all of our lives are more important than some simple mission. If you had actually died - and you did. Almost. Die, I mean - that would have been worse than any failed plan."

Lance nodded, which relieved the others enough for them to let go of him. Only then, in a blur of red, Keith was there. They collapsed in a heap on the floor, Keith struggling to hold onto Lance as tight as he could.

"You almost died, you idiot!" Keith said, his voice muffled by Lance's shoulder. Lance grasped the back of his head, kissed the side of his face, then laid back and simply hugged back for all it was worth.

"Love you too, Keith."


End file.
